Annual Meeting

Sen. Durbin promotes pro bono, honors award recipients

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., speaking to an oft-cheering audience on his home turf, exhorted lawyers to do more pro bono work and to help finance free legal services provided by others in his keynote address Saturday at the ABA’s Pro Bono Publico Awards luncheon at the association’s annual meeting…

Aug 1, 2015 7:17 PM CDT

What are the business costs of ignoring racial and gender diversity?

The benefits of having a diverse workplace are well-established. In fact, a lack of diversity can even have a negative effect on the bottom line. So why haven’t law firms taken account of the business benefits of diversity? That was the question a group of minority and female attorneys and…

Aug 1, 2015 6:54 PM CDT

Crime rate not main reason prison population exploded: It was sentencing policy

Suppose that in 1972, in response to a rising crime rate, then-President Richard Nixon announced plans to build 1 million new prison cells, reserve 60 percent of them for blacks and Latinos and put 3,000 people on death row, said Marc Mauer, executive director of the Sentencing Project. Such an…

Aug 1, 2015 5:31 PM CDT

Why aren’t more women lead counsel? Litigators, judges explain the obstacles and offer solutions

If women want to be trial lawyers, the best place to have first-chair opportunities may be with federal prosecutors, according to a recent ABA study. But considering that many assistant U.S. attorneys eventually join big firms as partners, some wonder why there are few women at big law firms leading…

Aug 1, 2015 4:03 PM CDT

Disruptive innovators try to convince skeptical attorneys of the need to collaborate

There are still some considerable obstacles when it comes to attorneys and bar associations embracing legal technology and collaborating with legal service providers to close the access-to-justice gap for millions of Americans. One of the biggest is the lingering suspicion many attorneys have of technology and alternative legal service providers.…

Aug 1, 2015 3:00 PM CDT

US immigration detention policies are ‘incompatible with basic principles of justice,’ says law prof

At an ABA Annual Meeting panel on Friday, speakers had strong criticisms of the federal government’s detention policies for immigrant mothers with children. “The government’s family detention policies of widespread detention of families and secure lockdown facilities are just incompatible with basic principles of justice and liberty,” said Denise Gilman,…

Aug 1, 2015 11:30 AM CDT

Lawyers debate campaign financing, voter restrictions and other election issues

Believe it or not, there are plenty of hot-button and controversial topics relating to the upcoming 2016 presidential election that have nothing to do with Donald Trump. On Friday, panelists representing a diverse range of ideological and political views spoke at the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago about issues ranging…

Aug 1, 2015 10:24 AM CDT

John Paul Stevens says he likes Chief Justice Roberts’ style

In 2014, retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens published Six Amendments: How and Why We Should Change the Constitution. And in a short but punchy speech to a luncheon held Friday during the 2015 ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago, Stevens praised the current justices for taking positive steps…

Aug 1, 2015 9:50 AM CDT

Judges reflect on dealing with difficult pro se litigants

In the Northern District of Illinois, judges still remember pro se litigant Bart Ross. Ross was a frequent filer in Chicago federal court, where, the Chicago Tribune says, his filings over a decade often compared doctors, judges and lawyers to Nazis and terrorists. In late 1994, Judge Joan Lefkow dismissed…

Jul 31, 2015 4:25 PM CDT

Body cams could cut police misconduct complaints

Requiring on-duty police officers to wear body cameras could drastically reduce misconduct complaints, according to speakers at a Friday ABA Annual Meeting panel, because false complaints could be determined quicker, and officers wearing the equipment would be more likely to follow policy. “Liability for Alleged Police Misconduct: The Legal Landscape…

Jul 31, 2015 3:29 PM CDT

How can tensions between minorities and police be addressed? Reforms proposed

Tension between police and racial minorities, which has been significantly exacerbated by a recent series of fatal police shootings in places like Baltimore and Ferguson, Missouri, won’t be solved overnight. However, promoting concepts such as procedural justice, transparency and accountability could go a long way toward reducing these tensions. That…

Jul 31, 2015 1:39 PM CDT

How should we regulate the ‘sharing economy’?

Cities are interested in transportation services offered by groups like Uber and Lyft, but they also have concerns about public safety, according to a recent survey (PDF) by the National League of Cities. Nicole DuPuis, who is a senior associate with the organization’s Center for City Solutions and Applied Research,…

Jul 30, 2015 7:35 PM CDT

Commissioners speak on the future of justice on American Indian land

For Tom Gede, a member of the Indian Law & Order Commission, the most emotional part of the entity’s work took place in Alaska. That was where the commission, a body appointed by Congress in 2010 to study how justice can be improved on Native American lands, heard from a…

Jul 30, 2015 6:56 PM CDT

Lawyers and music lovers converge on Chicago for ABA Annual Meeting and Lollapalooza

Updated: Two events will dominate the downtown Chicago landscape over the next several days—and they couldn’t be more different in size, demographics and purpose. On Friday, the Lollapalooza music festival will take over Grant Park for the weekend, featuring some 130 heavy metal, alternative rock and hip-hop groups—and even a…

Jul 29, 2015 8:30 AM CDT

Educators and young lawyer take opposing sides at hearing over academic credit for paid externships

The governing council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar has approved six proposed changes to the law school accreditation standards for notice and comment. But only one—a proposal to eliminate the current ban on students receiving academic credit for paid externships—drew any testimony at…

Jul 16, 2015 4:52 PM CDT